EL PASO — Democratic presidential candidate and New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker on Wednesday escorted five migrant women from Juarez to El Paso so the women could make asylum claims.
According to a news release from advocates and attorneys from Families Belong Together and Las Americas, the women had been previously sent back to Mexico under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
“It is legal to seek asylum,” Linda Rivas, lead attorney with Las Americas, said in a news release. “America has well-established procedures for reviewing and vetting asylum claims, and yet the Trump administration continues to defy the law of the land, throwing vulnerable people back into dangerous situations. This is a violation of international human rights law.
KTSM 9 News spotted Booker at the base of the Paso del Norte bridge, but he would not speak on camera and drove off not long after.
Booker introduced a new immigration plan on Tuesday. It would “virtually eliminate immigration detention,” by shutting down “inhumane” border facilities and introducing civil detention standards.
Booker would also direct the Department of Homeland Security to phase out its contracts with private prison facilities over three years.
Booker said on day one of his presidency he will “take immediate steps to end this administration’s moral vandalism” without waiting for Congress to act.
